lostcarnival | ALOLA SCOUTING CATCH-ALL

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ALOLA SCOUTING CATCH-ALL

Who: The Nightrunning Crew!
When: Day 73
Where: ALOLA
What: Scouts doing SCOUTS STUFF and Mercs ALSO DOING SCOUTS STUFF maybe catching pokemon maybe getting clothes WHO KNOWS
WARNINGS: People being Dumb

Alola, the scouts will notice initially, is fairly warm-but fairly diverse all the same. Everyone is equipped with their handy-dandy radio, which is good considering the chances that everyone arrived on separate islands.

Those landing at Poni Island find it largely uninhabited, aside from one lonely property and a dock filled with houseboats. The pokemon here are wild and untamed, and among some of the strongest in the region-and scouts will find massive canyons and equally large trees, that some can even walk on.

Mele-Mele Island on the other hand, while small, has more sizable a population. There's one city, and plenty to do, and the scouts becoming familiar with pokemon will observe that those in the wild here are good for anyone 'starting out'-the labs here as well might supply tourists with pokedexes even just as a temporary measure, so that's handy.

The third of the four islands meanwhile, Ula'Ula, is home to the highest peak in the entire region...as well as a desert. There's a lot more people living here, though scouts venturing far enough north are going to come across the town that Team Skull took over, which might be a good idea to warn others of. It's one thing to dismiss Team Skull as a threat, it's another to just waltz into their home base. There's also a local bus that will take visitors up to the Hokulani Observatory, up on Mt. Hokulani.

Lastly, the most populous of the four islands, Akala Island has hotels, a natural park, an impressive mall...scouts can probably take at least a brief moment to get themselves to blend in more with some local clothing while here, especially while in one of the two cities. Konikoni in particular seems to be selling numerous items relating to pokemon in one way or another, so it's a must-see!

Though really, scouts should probably try to focus on what's relevant to the Carnival, right..?

[[OOC - This is a mingle log; players of scouts can assume they can be anywhere among the islands given how easy it is to travel between them, or just radio out-and beyond that everyone is free to come up with their own ridiculous scouting scenario! Just try not to alola yourself out, we still have the main event after all.]]

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'It is what it is'? You make it sound like it's destiny. [ That's enough to make Lambert laugh, though it still carries that bitter edge to it. ]

Even if it was, fuck that. What good is magic if can't change anything? [ Its also useful for things like building roads, apparently, not to mention wrecking their enemies. Regardless, Lambert grins maniacally at Strange, teeth bared. It's really a pretty unsettling expression. ]

If that's what you want, make it happen. If there are only two magicians in England... [ What does that make the odds, half and half? ]

Edited (more profanity because, well, /GESTURES) 2017-03-29 13:56 (UTC)

You forget. There are two magicians in England but one of them's flitted off to Venice in a state of madness.

[ Strange smiles, a sarcastic little smile. He doesn't know specifically how his actions have set back Norrell's idea of what magic should be, just that he most likely has (which he is just taking so much petty pleasure in). ]

Besides, I might have the army, but Norrell has politicians on his side. The man tried his hardest to stop publication of my book, I can't imagine what he would do if I started a school or attempted to teach others magic.

[ it's just said as a statement of fact, not Strange complaining or whining. It would make Norrell intensely aggravated (which again, so much petty pleasure in that thought) but Strange knows one hundred percent that should he take up any cause of spreading magic around, letting those who want to be magicians be magicians, he'd be stopped at almost every turn. ]

One day he'll be back, won't he? [ Lambert shrugs. ] Got a wife to get back to and all that.

[ Although that does make him track back (unwillingly) to what Strange said earlier, and he tips his head to the side, inquisitive. ]

What'd she think of the whole making yourself crazy thing, anyway? [ Not that he has a wife, obviously, but from his vague secondhand knowledge of such things, that's generally something they'd disapprove of. Maybe Strange's as bad as listening to his wife as he is to Norrell. ]

[ Ohhhhh they're going to have to talk about this. Strange's demeanor goes from one hundred to zero pretty darn quick as Lambert mentions his wife.

For all of Strange's bluster about how he's got nothing to hide, he straight up lies. But better for Lambert to think that Arabella is dead, that way the other man wouldn't try to stop him once he summoned the faerie who kidnapped her in the first place. ]

I doubt she would have liked it. She grew to hate my magic and wanted me to give it up. She worried about me tremendously in the peninsula, I can only imagine the level of worry I would cause her if she knew about my actions in Venice. [ There's a pause before he forces himself to say ] My wife is dead. She died before I left for Venice, before I set myself on my current path.

[ It's obvious this isn't the whole story: Strange has no poker face in the slightest. But the sadness inherent in the tone of his voice tells Lambert that though the whole story might not be true, the emotional heft certainly is. God how he misses Arabella. ]

Edited 2017-03-29 16:21 (UTC)

[ Lambert doesn't have a huge range of expression when it comes to things like 'sympathy' and 'compassion,' so as Strange goes on, his face just drops into witcher neutrality, grim and tight-lipped. ]

Fuck. [ Is what he has to say, eloquently. Warn a guy before you drop sad shit like that on him, Strange. In any case, he doesn't want to know the whole story, it sounds depressing as fuck and he doesn't really know what to do with someone so visibly sad if the solution doesn't involve killing something. ]

Guess I know why you're here. [ A pause. ] Last I heard, though, you can't make a contract to bring someone back from the dead.

[ Which begs the question of how exactly he knows that himself, but Strange is probably too preoccupied being emotional to ask weird probing questions right now. ]

Edited 2017-03-29 21:34 (UTC)

You can't, [ Strange responds with a shake of his head, equally serious and with that sad tone still in his voice. Indeed, he's so focused on keeping things calm and trying to hide what he really knows that he straight up misses the fact that Lambert knew about the fact that contracts can't be made to bring someone back to life. ] But in my world, there is a spell to bring someone back from the dead. My contract with the Ringmaster is to learn how that spell is done.

[ It's technically true. Though, Strange isn't sure how much use his contract will be. After all, the conversation with Childermass in the Celebration left Strange with an inkling of a feeling that it wasn't a spell that brought Lady Pole back from the dead, but a faerie himself. ]

After my year and a day, when I return home, I shall perform the spell myself.

To be honest, that sounds like a really shitty idea.

[ Lambert says, simply and directly. Sure, he'd thought to ask the same for Aiden first, but that sort of magic is almost always taboo wherever you go. It also takes a lot of magic to do something like that, so you're almost inevitably throwing something out of balance to use it. And that's not even assuming something could go horribly wrong in the process of resurrection. Human consciousness and thought are complicated, after all. It's too imagine ways that could all go sideways.

And yet. ]

I hope it works. [ Where Strange's tone is sad, Lambert's is fierce, his jaw set tight. There's no such magic as what Strange is describing -- not the kind of magic for what he needs, anyway -- in his world, and even if there was he wouldn't have the ability to cast it. In the end, he's just a simple witcher, and vengeance is the only thing he can carve out from himself. At least someone ought to get what they really want out of this. ]

Seriously. I hope you bring her back. [ It's a little hard to convey his sincerity properly when he sounds mostly just super angry, but there's no doubting his honesty. Strange should build his stupid magic school, write his weird magic book, and have all the magic babies he wants when he gets home. Because yeah, fuck destiny up its ass. ]

Edited 2017-03-30 06:04 (UTC)

[ The sheer...directness of Lambert's tone is what throws Strange for a loop. For all of his bluntness about how awful an idea it is, he still hopes it would work? And this is Lambert that the sincerity is coming from, which just makes the situation all the more odd. He honestly expected Lambert to tease him or fuss at him or something. Some sort of jokes at his magic or himself, not sincere well-wishes.

Well now he really feels shitty about lying to Lambert. ]

Thank you, [ Strange responds, unable to hide a trace of surprise from his tone. And then, because this conversation is getting too mushy and he feels too awful about lying, Strange swaps the conversation to talking about magic. ] For what it's worth, I know the spell works. My mentor used it to bring someone from the dead himself and I used a crude version of it in the peninsula. I just need to know how best to refine it.

[ How long will it take before Jonathan "can't keep a secret to save his life" Strange cracks and admits the truth? Guess they'll have to find out. ]

Don't get me wrong, I still think it's stupid and you're bugfuck crazy. But if you're going to do it anyway, at least really make sure you get it right. [ Lambert shrugs. ]

It sounds like the spell doesn't exactly work as advertised. Otherwise, why bother fixing it?

[ Strange can't help it—when Lambert calls him bugfuck crazy, he just lets out a short bark of laughter. There's no use denying that, after all.

He can't help but give Lambert a small smile as he talks, obviously pushing past the sadness and tenseness he had before. ]

It depends on the spell. What I used was blood magic. What my mentor used inevitably wasn't. His results worked better than mine, ergo when I perform the spell, I'll perform his.

[ Somehow, Lambert isn't surprised. Of course Strange was fucking around with blood magic.

Also, Strange just admitted he drank a cocktail some lady's distilled crazy juices cut with water. Lambert is never letting him give him shit about his potions again. ]

Seems like a roundabout way to do it. Couldn't you just have stolen a book?

Edited 2017-04-01 04:26 (UTC)

[ Eventually Strange'll mention the whole 'yeah that vessel of madness was straight up a dead mouse that I put in my mouth before cutting it with water' and then any attempts at giving Lambert shit about his potions will just up and vanish. It's hard to win an argument when the other party defaults to 'dude you put a mouse in your mouth.'

As for the question, Strange shakes his head. ] I'm afraid not. I was in the peninsula when I raised the dead. [ take a shot. ] Even I would have trouble stealing a book from across the ocean.

[ If that ever comes out, there will be judging. So much judging. And maybe he'll be a little bit impressed, at least, because that's pretty hardcore, if fucked up. ]

Well, just try not to raise any dead people while you're here. [ Lambert responds, dryly. ] I don't think the locals would appreciate that.

[ literally the only part of Fear Factor he'd be remotely good at.

Still, Strange gives Lambert a wide grin at his response. ] Especially considering the way the spell works. With blood magic, I raise someone from the dead no matter what the current state of their body is.

[ aka hella gross and corpsey ]

And that's why you don't do blood magic. [ Lambert says, matter-of-fact. ]

You gonna stare at this thing's ass all day? [ He gestures at the Exeggutor. ]

Probably not, [ Strange responds, with a shrug as he looks over the Pokemon with a frown. ] It's not really doing anything, is it.

[ because this is the sane encounter when somebody didn't get the dumbass idea to THROW A ROCK AT POOR EXEGGUTOR. ]

We should probably go explore the rest of this island—care for a traveling partner?

[ They're clearly going to end up separated just so he can make terrible decisions again later. ]

Depends. [ He whistles for Pig, who stops munching on whatever it's eating and trundles over ... albeit with obvious reluctance. Lambert hasn't quiet won it over yet. ]

Think we can both fit on this?

Well, I suppose there's only one way to find out!

[ said with a griiiiiin. Don't mind Strange, he's just gonna go try and hop on the back of poor Mudbray. This is going to look goddamn ridiculous and he KNOWS it. ]

[ Pig puts up with it, and doesn't so much as twitch at the sudden impact, considering it's used to Lambert jumping on it in much the same way. However, given its tiny, tiny size (seriously, it's tiny) Strange is probably gonna have to seriously bend his legs to even approximate sitting on it... Lambert laughs, shittily, because yeah Strange is taller than him so it looks even stupider than when he does it. ]

Move your fat ass. [ And he's going to hop on behind Strange (Mudbray remains unimpressed, but at least they're not being bucked off). Amazing what stupidity they can get up to even without alcohol involved. ]

[ So to nobody's surprise, a six foot tall man is having a lot of trouble fitting on a three foot tall horse. This worked better in theory than in practice. Add in the fact that Lambert's behind him, smushing him forwards a bit and really, this is just not working out. There's looking stupid and then there's not being able to sit on Mudbray's back in any manner vaguely resembling something comfortable. ]

Maybe you should be up front, [ Strange grumbles, as he accidentally kicks poor Mudbray in the face while trying to make it so his legs don't drag the ground. ]

How else am I supposed to keep you from falling off?

[ It could be worse, Lambert could be wearing all his armor and not only would Strange be smushed, he'd be getting poked in so many places. In any case, his smirk is prettt audible. ]

If you wanted to get your hands on me, you could have just asked.

[ Not even hearing about dead wives is going to keep him from cracking jokes like that. ]

I've ridden horses before, you know. I know what I'm doing.

[ The problem here is that all the horses he's ridden were normal horse sized. Strange is probably going to end up falling off no matter what, just because of the exceedingly awkward height difference. He's still riding the struggle bus with trying to get his legs in something remotely comfortable.

At Lambert's smirk however, Strange rolls his eyes. Of course the other man would take the opportunity to tease him. Still, his tone of voice tells Lambert that he's perfectly fine teasing him right back. ]

Now why would I want to do that now, especially when we had a whole Celebration tailor-made for things like that?

Funny, I don't seem to remember you taking advan--

[ At this point, Pig has apparently decided that it's had enough listening to the pair of them natter on, because regardless of whether Strange has settled himself or not, it just starts walking. It all sends them jostling uncomfortably together again, Lambert grabbing for the Mudbray's mane to keep them from straight up toppling off and laughing as he digs his knees into the Pokemon's side. And if it mostly means Strange ends up using him as an impromptu backrest/saddle, it's not the most undignified position he's been in... though he does have a lot more of those, historically, than most. ]

[ Strange just lets out a little noise of surprise as Pig starts walking. Lambert might be having an easier time but Strange? Not in the slightest. He tries to grab on the mane as well but there's not all that much to grab on because a: tiny horse and b: Lambert's grabbing most of the mane in the first place. Likewise, Strange can count the amount of times he's ridden bareback on one hand. While he's trying to mimic the way Lambert digs his knees into Pig's side, he can't help but yearn for a proper saddle.

Like most things in his life, turns out that Strange probably should have thought this through a little bit before actually doing it.

Needless to say, he lasts a minute before Strange accidentally moves his foot too close to the ground, trips it up on something, and pretty much just falls off the horse. We'll see if he manages to take Lambert off as well or if the witcher has better luck balancing on the tiny little donkey. ]

[ Lambert manages to avoid going down with Strange, but only because he gets his limbs out of the way while he lets gravity take its course with Strange, wobbling for an unsteady moment before he rights himself and peers down where the magcian's fallen. ]

Wanna try it the other way around? [ He asks, brightly. Honestly, at this rate, Strange is probably better off walking... ]

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